Knife sharpener



G. A. BRINKLEY KNIFE SHARPENER July 3, 1951 Filed July 17, 1950 Patented July 3, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE KNIFE SHARPEN ER Glenn A. Brinkley, Youngstown, Ohio Application July 17, 1950, Serial No. 174,344

Claims.

' This invention relates to a knife sharpener and more particularly to a knife sharpener in which a section of fiat file is used as a sharpening element.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a knife sharpener using a fiat file as a sharpening element.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a knife sharpener including a section of flat file and means for holding the said fiat file in a vertical position and including guide means for directing a knife blade thereagainstwhereby a sharpening operation may be performed. 7

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a knife sharpener comprising a simple, easily fabricated structure which may be alternately held by a detachable handle or secured to a supporting surface.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a knife sharpener including a pair of spaced vertically standing clamping members having a section of flat file blade clamped therebetween and forming guide means for presenting a knife to the sides of the said file blade.

It will be seen that the knife sharpener disclosed herein comprises an improvement over the construction disclosed in my co-pending patent application Serial No. 147,954, filed March 6, 1950, which issued as Patent No. 2,542,472, dated February 20, 1951, on Knife Sharpener and primarily relates toa structure which is capable of more economic formation than the structure disclosed in my aforementioned patent application.

The knife sharpener disclosed herein is so formed as to enable various sizes and shapes of file blades to be used as the sharpening medium and provides for self-freeing action with respect to metal cuttings removed in the process of sharpening the knife. Additionally the device may be readily disassembled for cleaning or replacement or repositioning of the file blade therein.

- With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and ar- Ill) rangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being the intention to cover all changes and modifications ofthe example of the invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective elevation of the knife sharpener showing a knife in position therein.

Figure 2 is an end view with parts broken away of the knife sharpener shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end view of a modified. knife sharpener. 1

Figure 4 is a side view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2.

By referring to the drawings and Figures 1, 2 and 4 in particular the preferred form of the knife sharpener will be seen to comprise a base section l0 formed initially of the center portion of a sheet of suitable material, the adjacent portions of which are folded inwardly thereover upon fold lines |2|2. The adjacent sections of the material are bent at right angles as at |3-| 3 to form vertically standing clamping members |4|4, the uppermost ends of which are outturned to form guide members |5-|5. The vertical clamping members |4-| 4 are provided with vertically extending corrugations 6l 6 and are provided with a pair of oppositely disposed openings spaced horizontally with respect to one another and through which a pair of bolts |1|'l are positioned. Butterfly nuts |8-|8 are engaged upon the bolts |1--|'|. A U-shaped handle l9 having apertured outturned end portions 2020 is secured to the device by the bolts |'||1 and a section of fiat file blade 2| is positioned vertically between the clamping members I l-I4 so that an uppermost longitudinal edge of the file blade 2| lies above the portions of the clamping members l|4 which engage the opposite sides of the file blade 2 The file blade 2| therefore extends into the area between the guide members l5l5 which angle away therefrom on an angle from vertical corresponding with the desired taper to be imparted to a blade to be sharpened.

In Figure 1 of the drawings a knife K is illustrated in position in the device and on the right handside of the file blade 2| and with the blade of the knife sharpener positioned against thev right hand guide member |5 so that the cutting edge of the blade of the knife K is presented at a proper sharpening angle to the vertical right hand side of the file blade 2|.

. It will be observed that the file blade 2| is held in vertical position between the corrugations |6.|6 formed on the clamping members i l-4 3 andmore particularly between an upper row thereof as best seen in Figures 2 and 4 of the drawings. The space between the corrugations |8|6 provide ready clearance for the metal cuttings removed from the blade of the knife K 3 by its engagement against the flat vertical side of the file 2|.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the handle [9 may be removed from the assembly by loosening the bolt and nut assemblies I1 and I8 and the knife sharpener affixed to a stationary base by means of fasteners passed through a plurality of openings 22--22 in the base It] and adjacent portions 1 l-l| thereof. It will also be obvious to those skilled in the art that the position of the file 2| may be altered from time to time to present new cutting surfaces to the blade of a knife to be sharpened.

Modifications in the construction of the knife sharpener herein disclosed will occur to those skilled in the art and one such possible modification is shown in Figure 3 of the drawings wherein an end view comparing with Figure 2 of the drawings is illustrated. In Figure 3 of the drawings a base 25 has an L-shaped member 28 spot welded to its upper surface or it may be integrally formed therewith by joining the same at the rig-ht hand ends thereof in the same manner as the right hand end portion of the base I of the portion 11-! illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings. In either event, the L-shaped portion 2 8- includes an upright section 21 which is corrugated as at 28 and apertured for the reception of bolts 29 having butterfly nuts 30 threadably engaged thereon.

Theuppermost portion of the upright section 21' of the L-shaped member 26 is outturned as indicated by the numeral 3| and a handle 32 is positioned by means of apertures in its outturned ends 33 engaged upon the bolts 29-. A separate L-shaped clamping piece 34 having corrugations 35 is positioned on the L-shaped member 26 and spaced with respect to the section 21 thereof by its lower inturned section 37. The upper end of the 'L shaped clamping member 34 is outturned as at 38 and a file blade 39 is positioned between the -L-sha'ped clamping member 34 and the verticalsection 27 of the L-shaped member 26.

Other modifications in the construction of the knife sharpener will occur to those skilled in the art and are considered to be included in the dis closure and within the scope of the appended claims. I

It will thus be seen that the knife sharpener disclosed herein meets the several objects of the invention.

Having thus described my invent-ion what I claim is:

1. A knife sharpener including a pair of spaced vertical body members having oppositely disposed outturned flanges on their lower edges, a base member underlying said flanges and attached to theoutermost edges thereof, bolts interconnecting the body members midway between their uppermost edges and said flanges for urging the same toward one another and a section of flat file positioned between the said body members and retained by clamping action thereupon, the up per longitudinal edges of the said body members being outturned to form spaced oppositely disposed guides for a knife blade with respect to the opposite sides of the said file blade, the body members having vertical corrugations therein to pass metal filings away from the file.

2. The knife sharpener set forth in claim 1 and further characterized by the means interconnect- 4 ing the body members for urging the same toward one another comprising bolt and nut assemblies positioned through the said body members and including a handle detachably secured to one of the said body members by the said bolt and nut assemblies.

3. A knife sharpener including a pair of spaced vertical body members, oppositely disposed inwardly projecting vertical corrugations in the said body members, bolts interconnecting the body members midway between their upper and lower edges for urging the same toward one another and a section of flat file positioned between the said oppositely disposed corrugations on the body members and retained by clamping action thereupon, the upper longitudinal edges of the said body members being outturned to form spaced oppositely disposed guides for a knife blade with respect to the opposite sides of the said file blade.

4. A. knife sharpener including a pair of flat vertically standing body members, means on the opposed surf-aces of the body members forming a plurality of vertically standing ribs, bolts interconnecting the body members midway between their upper and lower edges for urging the same toward one another and a section of flat file positioned between the oppositely disposed ribs on the body members and retained by clamping action thereupon, the upper longitudinal edges of the said body members being angularly outturned to form spaced oppositely disposed guides for a knife blade with respect to the opposite sides of the said file blade.

5. A knife sharpener comprising a flat body member forming a base and having oppositely disposed inturned flanges on its edges overlying a majority of its upper surface, the said flanges having spaced vertically standing sections thereon, vertically extending corrugations formed in the vertically standing sections of the said flanges and bolts positioned through the said vertically standing sections of the flanges for urging the same toward one another, a section of flat file positioned between the corrugated surfaces of the vertically standing sections of the flanges and retained by clamping action of the bolts thereon, the upper longitudinal edges of the said vertically standing sections of the flanges being outturned to form angularly disposed guides with respect to the vertical surfaces of the flat file, the corrugations in the vertical standing sections of the flanges forming means permitting metal filings to fall clear of the said file.

GLENN A. BRINKLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 606,000 Clark June21, 1898 948,429 Noss Feb. 8, 1910 1,202,113 Smith Oct. 24, 1916 1,223,753 Anderson Apr. 24, 1917 1,439,711 Reder Dec. 26, 1-922 1,477,820 Graser Dec. 18, 1923 1,507,286 Holdz-kom Sept. 2,1924 1,619,581 Song Mar. 1, 1927 2,189,474 Russell Feb. 6,1940 

